Sergio Marchionne Is Announced As Ferrari's New CEO

Ferrari announced today that the current CEO Amedeo Felisa will step down and Sergio Marchionne will become the new CEO. The changes are effective immediately. The change didn't come as a surprise to most people. Sources tell Reuters that Marchionne being named CEO doesn't change much as he has been in charge since former Chairman Luca Di Montezemolo quit in September 2014.

Felisa has been with Ferrari for 26 years holding various roles including overseeing product development and the general manager of the brand. He was named CEO in 2008. Felisa will still be part of Ferrari's board of directors.

It is unknown what this change will bring to the Italian sports car maker. But considering some of Marchionne's previous comments, it wouldn't be surprising if production is slightly increased and an entry-level sports car comes out.

Maranello (Italy), 2 May 2016 – Ferrari N.V. (“Ferrari” or “Company”) (NYSE/MTA: RACE) announces the retirement of its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Amedeo Felisa, after 26 years of dedicated service. Mr. Sergio Marchionne will assume those responsibilities while retaining his current role as Chairman of the Company. Mr. Felisa will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of Ferrari with a specific mandate as technical advisor to the Company.

Sergio Marchionne had this to say: “I have known Amedeo for more than a decade and I have had the opportunity to work with him closely for the last two years. He is beyond any doubt one of the best automotive engineers in the world. During the last 26 years, he has worked tirelessly to fuel and guide Ferrari’s technical development, producing an array of cars which have set the standard for both performance and styling.”

The Board of Directors wants to officially express its gratitude to Amedeo for his contributions and is delighted to be able to count on his services as technical advisor to the leadership team going forward.

Similar Content

Ferrari has been able to be exempt from certain regulations concerning emissions and fuel economy since they sell less than 10,000 vehicles per year. But the Italian sports car builder is getting close to that amount as they have commited to ship 8,000 vehicles this year and raise that to 9,000 by 2019. What do you do in this case? Begin to add hybrid bits to your vehicles.
Reuters reports that Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne announced during a conference call with investors that all of their vehicles sold from 2019 will have some sort of hybrid tech. This would allow Ferrari to grow and sell more vehicles.
"Although I neither commit to this nor do I give any sort of certification of it being our objective, it is possible that the (annual sales) number could be well in excess of 10,000 cars in 2025," said Marchionne.
Marchionne also mentioned that the company would undergo a "fundamental shift" in the way it manufacturers its cars. This would include building models with a focus on luxury.
Source: Reuters

Ferrari has been able to be exempt from certain regulations concerning emissions and fuel economy since they sell less than 10,000 vehicles per year. But the Italian sports car builder is getting close to that amount as they have commited to ship 8,000 vehicles this year and raise that to 9,000 by 2019. What do you do in this case? Begin to add hybrid bits to your vehicles.
Reuters reports that Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne announced during a conference call with investors that all of their vehicles sold from 2019 will have some sort of hybrid tech. This would allow Ferrari to grow and sell more vehicles.
"Although I neither commit to this nor do I give any sort of certification of it being our objective, it is possible that the (annual sales) number could be well in excess of 10,000 cars in 2025," said Marchionne.
Marchionne also mentioned that the company would undergo a "fundamental shift" in the way it manufacturers its cars. This would include building models with a focus on luxury.
Source: Reuters

Sergio Marchionne is the biggest critic of electric vehicles in the automotive industry. But he seems to be changing his tune (to a point).

"I’m not as convinced as some others are about the fact that electrification is the solution for all of man’s ills. We need to experiment as we are doing now with connected cars and mobility as electrification is one of the potential answers," said Marchionne to Bloomberg.

Marchionne said the company is contemplating adding full electric vehicles to their lineup including a small city car for Europe and a version of the upcoming Maserati Alfieri coupe. The latter model could be positioned as a rival to Tesla.

"I’ve always thought the economic model that supports Tesla is something that Fiat Chrysler could replicate as we have the brand and the vehicles to do it. I think that to use one of our potential cars as an experiment in this area is interesting," said Marchionne.

Marchionne also said the company would launch more hybrid vehicles down the road.

Another leadership shake-up at Alfa Romeo and Maserati has taken place. Today, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Reid Bigland will take over from Harald Wester as the CEO for the two brands. Wester will remain as FCA's chief technology officer, and Bigland will continue as the head of U.S. and Canadian sales.

"I am thankful for the work Harald has carried out in the last few years establishing a sound technical framework for our two premium brands and which has culminated in the recent launch of the Maserati Levante and the Alfa Romeo Giulia" said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne in a statement.

"It is time now for our efforts to be directed towards the global commercial expansion of these two brands, and I can think of no one better than Reid to fulfill that mission.”

Bigland inherits what can be described as a 'comedy of errors'. The relaunch of Alfa Romeo is considerably over budget according to supplier sources to Automotive News. Meanwhile, countless delays have pushed back the launch of the Giulia (on sale at the end this month for Europe, fall for the U.S.) and Alfa's first SUV - the Stelvio - has been pushed back to early next year. Originally, Alfa Romeo was supposed to have eight models by 2018. This has been pushed back to 2020.

Maserati isn't faring much better with profits falling and a lineup that is aging. The Levante SUV has been plagued by delays. European sales only began this month, with U.S. sales starting in October.

Reid Bigland is named as the Chief Executive of the Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands. Reid has held a number of Sales and Brand Leadership positions within FCA, and is currently the Head of US Sales and the Chief Executive of FCA Canada, positions that he will continue to hold.

Harald Wester, who has led the Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands until now, will be able to devote his full attention to the role of Chief Technology Officer for FCA, a role which he held while developing the technical basis for the Maserati and Alfa Romeo products and brands, and which have now achieved a high level of maturity.

“I am thankful for the work Harald has carried out in the last few years establishing a sound technical framework for our two premium brands and which has culminated in the recent launch of the Maserati Levante and the Alfa Romeo Giulia. It is time now for our efforts to be directed towards the global commercial expansion of these two brands, and I can think of no one better than Reid to fulfill that mission. Reid has an extraordinary record of growing sales and market share in the US and Canada over the last 7 years at FCA, including leading the growth and positioning of the Ram and Dodge brands for part of that time.” added Sergio Marchionne, Chief Executive Officer of FCA.

Reid Bigland and Harald Wester will continue to serve on the Group Executive Council (GEC). The Group Executive Council is the highest management body in FCA, and is chaired by the Chief Executive and is comprised of the senior functional and operating heads of the global organization.

"This plant and this architecture is capable of making the 300 successor, the front-wheel, all-wheel drive successor," Marchionne told reporters at FCA's Windsor plant - home to Pacifica production.

The architecture in question what underpins the new Pacifica minivan. Now when asked if the 300 would switch from a rear-wheel to a front-wheel platform, Marchionne said, "It's capable. It's not a commitment."

The current Chrysler 300 and its stablemates, the Dodge Charger and Challenger use the LX platform that uses suspension bits from older Mercedes-Benz models - the W211 E-Class and W220 S-Class. This move makes some sense as Chrysler is slowly being positioned as a competitor to the likes of Honda, Chevrolet, and Ford. Plus, it would give Dodge some breathing room to become the performance brand by having a rear-wheel drive platform for themselves.

But who can be sure at the moment since plans at FCA seem to be in a constant state of change.